copperlite

I have an 87 2WD Toyota longbed Pickup. About 6 months ago the truck started shuttering every once in a while when taking off from a full stop. The shuttering is pretty violent; It feels like the truck is shaking its self apart. It happens consistantly when you have a load in the bed and especially when you are starting on a up-hill. Reving up the engine and releasing the clutch slower for the most part makes the problem go away. Its gotten worse recently and will do it without a load in the bed especially when you release the clutch at low RPM to the point where the engine boggs slightly; I'm guessing around 800 RPM.

I climbed under the car and shook the crap out of the drivetrain thinking it may be a U-joint or driveshaft support bearing but I did not notice and play. So I'm thinking motor mounts or specificly the rear transmission mount. Any thoughts on what it could be or what else I can look at? Thanks!

Solomon8

I'd say the motor mounts, then ujoints. How does it run when sitting in you driveway, revving? Look for play at the mounts.

BajaRunner

I've had a shudder from a rear main seal leaking onto the clutch, but that was an FJ40.... Do you have oil leaking at all?

copperlite

A couple weeks back I tried testing it in my driveway. I let the clutch out slow, keeping the RPMs just above idle with the e-brake up. I couldn't replicate the shuttering but I was able to see how much the engine was moving. From what I remember it didn't shake around too much but I'm also not sure how much is too much.

It seems to do it consistantly when going uphill, so maybe I'll do it with some ramps in front of the front wheels. I guess the real test to determine if its u-joints or engine mounts is if I can get it to shutter without the wheels moving.

85gijunk4x4

could be a warped pressure plate, or out of balance driveshafts or u-joints

copperlite

I'll double check, but as far as I know nothing is leaking. The clutch doesn't seem to slip when driving.

I'm leaning towards motor mounts because like I said in my first post: If you rev the engine up and let the clutch out slowly the truck won't shutter but If the RPMs are low in the same situation, the truck will shutter.

Anyone know how much the engine should jump around under load?

copperlite

Clutch and pressure plate are about 10,000 miles old. I don't remember this problem before they were replaced; so its still a possibility.

My brother replaced the clutch... If the driveshaft is rotated 180 degrees from how it bolts on in the rear diff. would this make a difference? I remember the FSM saying something about marking the position of the driveshaft in relation to the rear diff. input flange.

elkhunterjay

could be a bad clutch or even a tranny mount

peow130

i'm leaning towards tranny mount...
if it's ripped it'll allow the tranny to torque over to the passenger side and shake violently

vital22re

iTrader: (2)

are you running on all cylinders? No miss under load?

copperlite

No missing. It definitely feels like some kind of mechanical failure.

copperlite

I did look at the mount the other day and all the rubber looked good. The bottom bolt/ pin thing that drops out the bottom of the mount was sticking through a good amount but I thought that was normal. I came across this thread which makes me think the mount is f-ed. The mount is like $12 so I'll replace it ASAP and see what happens. If it is toast it probably ate the front U-joint also.